Dear 2024,
I have been waiting months for you. I welcome the hope and expectations that come with your arrival. I am so excited about a fresh start.
In retrospect, 2023 could have been a better year. I could have been better, but my best self did not always show up when situations needed me to do so. I was sometimes mired down in distractions. While I own my 2023 shortcomings, I do not allow them to prevent me from soaring. I am grateful for 2023 and have bid farewell to it. I greet you with a wide, open-armed embrace.
As I start this journey with you, I have a few requests. These requests are in the context of help. I am asking for help before I need it. I am asking for help because I need it.
They are really more than requests. They are eight pleas and prayers.
- Lead me not into temptations, enticements or entanglements which would embarrass my family, allow me to become arrested and not honor God.
- Strengthen my capacity to resist those things that are seductive, alluring and capable of hurting others. Help me to not engage, walk away and say no.
- Open my eyes to see the good in others. Let me see you in them.
- Enlarge my heart to extend compassion for those who face oppression, injustice and suffering. Remind me that when God said, “Love thy neighbor,” he did not place restrictions, boundaries or ZIP codes on “neighbor.”
- Allow me to be grateful. No matter the circumstances — poverty, deficiency, setbacks, disappointments or losses — let me find a “thank you” in my heart.
- Help me to discern God’s voice from my own. I pray that God will speak to my soul and whisper into my spirit when I need to apologize, make a better decision or course-correct.
- Shape me into a student. I want to learn from the past and learn from the Lord.
- I plead that God would use me as his vessel. Work in and through me to reach people who don’t know God or have rejected God. Teach me to demonstrate mercy, forgiveness, generosity and goodness.
I am inspired by the year’s potential. I draw strength from knowing that these 12 months are full of possibilities, opportunities, open doors, new paths and relationships that are beyond my imagination.
The scripture (Lamentations 3:22-23) says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end and they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Every single day is replenished and refilled with mercy, which means that it is never depleted or exhausted. We can always go back for more mercy.
You have given us 362 more tomorrows, bursting with hope, second chances, trial runs, rehearsals, dreams, undrawn templates, clean slates and resets. Each day invites us to be better, pivot, change the trajectory and make a deeper impact. It is comforting to know that each day we can try again, start over and begin again.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God has great plans in store for us. Every day is 24 hours of the unknown, but what is known is God’s word and his promises to us, which are accessible from Genesis to Revelations.
When we face challenges, let us not quarrel with one another, start conflict or retaliate. Let us find refuge in God not as migrants, transients or visitors, but as his children and regular residents. Bring to our remembrance that God is greater than any threat, challenge or conflict.
This is my prayer — my daily invocation and benediction. Welcome 2024. I am ready.
The Rev. Theresa A. Dear is a national board member of the NAACP and a Deseret News contributor.